I’ve never understood the zombie fascination which probably means I qualify as the worst geek ever. Zombies have been everywhere. Films, shows, podcasts, comics; they have completely taken over scifi. The only zombie product I found remotely tolerable growing up was Shaun of the Dead, because that was really just a comedy with zombies as a plot device. It was a different take on a story that has been everywhere. It was in a similar way that Fear The Walking Dead tackled zombies.
It was a family show, really. Zombies just added to the familial tension. The story showed the collapse of society but in the background as the focus was on the main families who were trying to navigate their own stories. It was in a similar but apolitical style to The Handmaid’s Tale, which used to disasters (extremely low fertility and a toxic climate) to follow the story of June and the other handmaids who ended up trying to navigate the repercussions. Fear the Walking Dead did not centre the zombie narrative or make it about action, but instead made the show about how a family would work together in this new world. In the early days, the cast went out of their way to press that this was different to the main show, because this was a family story. That beautiful and unique concept though just seemed a little too boring for the writers who seemed unable to resist trying to go for drama and shocks than solid story telling.
Fear The Walking Dead quickly became darker, grittier and supposedly more exciting. Yet, ironically, this has ultimately made it a shambolic show. It has lost its way and gutted itself of any strengths. The drama has not been well written, well researched or even considered. The stories became more exciting and yet so problematic that it really should just ensure that everyone gets a bite and dies quickly, putting us all out of our misery. The show is so badly written, a list has been drawn up by Just Geek Stuff to break down the worst moments.
Our list of problematic FTWD stories:
Brought in a gay character and a mlm relationship just to kill Thomas off and leave Strand grieving
Killed off nearly all of the main people of colour (or gave them reduced roles) before killing off any of the Clarks who are white.
This included reducing the role of Ofelia Salazar severely and then only keeping her alive after being bitten long enough so that she could die in the arms of her father, Daniel.
Has depicted all of the major men of colour, except for Strand, as angry and violent.
Had a family of Americans (the majority of whom were white) turn up at a Mexican ranch and then caused its destruction when they had been living peacefully free from danger.
Uses border tensions to show the victimisation of the characters by Mexican people.
Used Native American land and the entire debate as a prop
Throughout season 3 used offensive language and tropes, such as Alicia trying to ‘call out’ a man she claimed was play-acting the role of the “nobel Native American”
Centred a white woman and a white man (a lawyer) as people trying to keep the peace between an oppressed community who had their land stolen by a white man and were were facing continued threats from white supremacists. They were the ‘listen to both sides’ contingent in a story that wanted to pretend that everyone was really colour-blind rather than complicit in racism.
Alicia is listed as 17 at the start in season one and somehow randomly has a birthday nobody mentions until she’s seen entering a sexual relationship with a practising lawyer who is in his mid-twenties. It doesn’t take any maths to work out the absolutely gross (but barely legal) implications or why the show randomly slotted in a mystery birthday.
When they finally did decide to kill off a major white character their first choice was not Nick (the actor requested to leave), their first choice was to kill off the only older woman on the show despite the fact that she had been the best character in an increasingly bad show.
The show is a mess. It uses people of colour for trauma porn more than Orange is the New Black, or it would, if it didn’t kill them off so quickly. It punches down not for laughs, but to drive action and worst of all, the show pretends its actually trying to make some grand or profound point. It is not. By getting caught up in the need for shock value entertainment, the depth was sacrificed. This started out as a family show where the different dynamics were compelling and engaging but now all the best characters are dead. When you kill off the best characters just for a cheap scene-shock then guess what? The audience are left with seasons ahead with characters nobody cares about because the writers never took the time to invest in them.
Fear The Walking Dead had a brilliant concept – explore how people try to live together, in a community with this huge and bizarre threat. It’s something that is badly needed in scifi. We get story after story where action is put at the core, but sometimes we need content like Lost in Space where we can actually focus on relationships. It’s a nice twist on a story that’s been done so many times before. Ultimately, it has lost its way because it just couldn’t resist chasing cheap thrills.